Jacob Markley gunsmith ledger

[Shreckmeister]

Has anyone checked this out at the PA archives

MG-2

Business Records Collection
Accounts of Individuals and Companies
Markley, Jacob, Gunsmith, Northumberland County


LEDGER, 1783-1822. (1 volume)

GM-0026 box 17

A. October 9, 1780 - 1822 (1 xerox copy, 50 pp.) Note: May not be cited without permission of Joseph Kindig III, 325 W. Market St., York, PA.

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Your post on Jacob Markley caught my eye as I have a 6th Great Grandfather, Jacob Markley. I looked in our family record and found that my Jacob may be an uncle to the Jacob you have in your post. My Jacob was born in Germany 7-11-1701, died 8-29-1784. he spent all of his adult life in Perkiomen and Skippack townships of Philadelphia county, later Montgomery county. I come thru his daughter Rebecca, b. 1734 who married Frederick Isett. What I found very interesting is that Rebecca's younger sister Christina, b. 5-27-1736 Married a Col. William Antes of Frederick township Philadelphia county. Could this be William Antes the gunmaker? The book, Moravian Gun Making of the American Revolution, gives a short side bar history of William Antes, 1731-1810, where it states that he was an ardent patriot living in Philadelphia county in 1777 and appointed a member of the Council of Safety.
Thanks, Mark Poley

[Spinner]

When I was researching Bucks County gunsmiths I gathered some information on William Antes which included Jacob Markley. The following genealogy is easier to see in chart form and can be found on various family histories on the Internet. (Be careful of family histories that don't include references).

Jacob Markley (1701-1784) married Barbara Dotterer. Two of their children were:

Christina, who married William Antes
Abraham who married Barbara Ickes.

William and Christina's daughter, Christina Antes married Jacob Markley, son of Abraham and Barbara (first cousins). This was the gunsmith, Jacob Markley.

I believe that most of this information came from "The Dotterer Family" by Henry Dotterer (1903). There is an oil painting called "The Shamokin Hunter" that is said to depict Jacob Markley "a gunsmith at Ft. Augusta". I had a print of it that I found on the Internet. Probably still have it in my records, somewhere.

I need to find my references but I believe that Antes and Markley worked together in Northumberland County until Antes removed to Canandaigua, NY where he died in 1810. I believe that there was an entry in Markley's ledger referring to guns started by Wm. Antes and finished by me.

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Spinner, Thank you for the reply. Thanks for the info on William and Christina's daughter Christina and Abraham and Barbara's son Jacob. I currently only have the descendants of Rebecca and Frederick Isett (my grandparents) and Veronica and George Schwenk. Veronica and George's descendants are from a book that I have, The Strassburger Family and Allied Families of Pennsylvania by Ralph Beaver Strassburger. I noticed something in the book that I thought was interesting, Jacob Markely's will is transcribed in full and Jacob Markley the younger signed it as one of the witnesses. He signed it Jacob Markley cord weiner.
Thanks again, Mark Poley

[Spinner]

See if this works: It's the history of the Dotterer family. There's information on the Markleys.


https://archive.org/details/dottererfamily00lcdott

[Stan]

Spinner , in the ledger there is an entry that states "to work started by  William Antis completed by me". Thought you might be interested. Stan

[Spinner]

Thanks, Stan. I remember now that you told me that. Did you have the ledger at one time?

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Spinner, Thank you for the link to the Dotterer book. Sorry for taking so long to get back with you. I will have to take some time and go thru the book. The Strassburger book that I have also has a chapter on the Dotterer family. I need to compare them.
Thanks again, Mark Poley

[Stan]

Yes I discovered the ledger in the attic of an antiques shop in Northumberland about 1971. I owned it for a few years
& then traded it to the late Joe Kindig for a rifle.  Wish I still owned it.  Another interesting entry about 1790 was as followes,
" to a rifle- to a tomahawk to kill indians- to do,."  This was ledger # 2 of Markleys, would love to see #1. Markley also made pistols , at least one sword , cast silver buttons & of course tomahawks. Stan

[Spinner]

I'm not sure I understand why an 18th century ledger that was given to the PA Archives would require permission from the Kindigs in order to publish anything taken from that document. Would it not be in the public domain?

[spgordon]

I wondered the same thing. But it looks like the PA state archives might have a xerox copy--not the original? Which (if true) I suppose prompts the question of where the original now is?

[Eric Kettenburg]

Hey Stan!  Just a hello, good to see you posting and hope all is well.

Stan has mentioned he traded the original to the Kindigs, so apparently Kindigs are the owners of the original document.  Now, either the state archives have a copy, or they have the original; if the original is 'on loan,' then the owners can specify anything they want in terms of how it is used etc.  If a copy, again, I would think the owners could have specified the terms of use in order to provide the copy.

[Stan]

Hi Eric, we've missed you at the artisans show, stop in, it would be good see you. The Kindigs own the ledger & it is on loan to the state museum. I have a copy from when I owned it but can't put hands on it.  Eric I have a yeager you would love to see, if you are coming to the show let me know. Regards Stan

[spgordon]

I looked at this today. The state archives has only a xerox copy. The cover indicates that is is "Ledger A," so I'm not sure about an earlier ledger.

I would say half of the work in the ledger involves gunsmithing or related activities. Other things recorded include a charge for "drawing a tooth."

Here is the entry that mentions William Antes: